One Quick Trick For Peeling Ginger Only Requires A Spoon

Ginger is used in so many dishes. Its mild heat adds warmth and fragrance to gingerbread, curries, soups, stir-fries, cookies, and more. And it's used in many cuisines, from Asian to American, according to Land O'Lakes. You can buy powdered ginger, candied ginger, and, of course, fresh ginger. While powdered and candied ginger are ready-to-use, you need to tackle fresh ginger root to use it in recipes. Fresh ginger has the most intense flavor and is most often used in main dishes.

In addition to adding a spicy flavor to countless dishes, ginger has numerous health benefits. It has antibacterial and antiviral qualities, it can cure nausea, and it can treat headaches and sore throats. It can also lower cholesterol levels and improve blood sugar, per WebMD.

But if you've never cooked with fresh ginger, you may be intimidated at first. Fortunately, ginger is easy to use once you know the trick to peeling it with a spoon.

When you get your bumpy, knobby ginger home from the supermarket (or harvest it from your garden, per MasterClass), put it in a paper or plastic bag in the fridge. (You can also store ginger on the counter.) When you're ready to use it, take it out and break off a piece or two, depending on how much the recipe calls for. (The Los Angeles Times says a 2-inch by 1-inch piece of fresh ginger root will yield about three tablespoons of grated ginger, or ¼ cup minced.)

Next, get a plain, non-serrated, stainless steel or silver spoon from your utensil drawer and hold its bowl in your dominant hand. Grab the piece of ginger in your other hand. Scrape the spoon edge firmly against the ginger root to peel the skin, advises Hello Chef. Work your way around the ginger, and you'll find that the skin comes off easily. But make sure you only peel as much as you're going to use right away; ginger will last longer with the peel still attached.

After you've peeled it with a spoon, you can grate the ginger on a regular grater or a microplane, chop it with a knife, or whirl it in a food processor or blender.

Before you start cooking, put the rest of the ginger root in a bag and pop it into the fridge. You want the ginger to stay dry and cool. It will keep in the fridge for up to three weeks, per MasterClass, or you can freeze it for a few months. (And you can peel and grate ginger right from frozen, too.) 

Now that you have lots of juicy, peeled ginger, how are you going to use it? There are so many wonderful recipes that use this fleshy rhizome (yes, ginger is a rhizome, not a tuber, per MasterClass).

For a healthy start to your day, try a ginger mango smoothie recipe. Delicious and flavorful side dishes that use fresh ginger include Aloo Gobi, which is made of cauliflower and potatoes. If you love chutney, you can make a fragrant and luscious mint and coriander chutney recipe. An easy chicken curry recipe is the perfect choice for dinner on a cold day. Or, you can make a recipe for grilled shrimp with honey-ginger barbecue sauce. You can even eat fresh ginger raw, according to Foodiosity.